Terryman is a musician, singer, songwriter, who has been in many scenes and many different styles of music. He is a fabulous live performer.

Woman love his voice, men his guitarplaying.

His career started in New York City, he was hired by John Lennon, David Peel, Debbie Harry, The Waterboys, Leslie West, to name a few, he's been on the road with The Grateful Dead, P-Funk, Richie Blackmore and Nazareth.

As a staff member of the infamous Fillmore East, he saw performances by, and hung out with Janis Joplin to Jimi Hendriks, Roland Kirk to Miles Davis, Mountain to Moby Grape and The Grateful Dead.

He recorded a single which ended up on the indie charts with great reviews. But when he did a follow up single, a song about a guy who shot some muggers on the subway. The record company said it was not politically correct so they did not want to release it.

Being fed up with agents and recordcompanies who limited his musical expression, he came to Europe and travelled in his VW van from city to city and from country to country to play on the townsquares. Free to develop his music and songwriting he became a streetlegend people still talk about.

Festivals and clubs wanted him and when the streets became overpopulated with musicians Terryman left the streets to play once again on a stage.

All these experiences made Terryman into an allround musician with a unique performance.

Terryman interviewed by Blues Monthly:

To his many fans, Terryman is a mystery. His shows are hard to describe, andall the articles about him don't help much in defining his constantlysurprising performances. I go to his shows whenever I find him in town, andinterviewing him seemed like a good way find the truth and dispell the manyrumors about him. The following interview was taped between sets at a smallclub in Amsterdam.

When asked where you're from, you answer New York as opposed to America.Is a New Yorker really different from the rest of America?

New York isn't part of America. America is a suburb of New York.

I was told that all New Yorkers were cynics. Do you think this true?

Do you think I'm cynical? Let's be generous and say, like all true New YorkersI have dry sense of humor. We're all Woody Allen wannabes.

What was it like to grow up in New York? How did you get involved inmusic?

Do you want the short or long answer? How long is your tape?

I've got lots of tape.

Ok. I'll be long winded. I grew up in greenwich village which was always alittle artsy fartsy. The area was a working class, mafia run, low rent, mishmosh of ethnics. It was cheap to live there, so artists moved in, making iteven more trendy.My involvement with music was accidental. I'd always writtenpoetry, and there was a piano in the house for my older brother who tooklessons. I began banging on the piano and singing my poems and wham! I wassuddenly a songwriter. I never took it seriously. I probably still don't.Anyway, I got a job at a local theatre, the Fillmore east. This was thebeginning of my rock and roll education. You should google it to see whatit really was. Every night I got to hang out with and see performances bypeople who weren't very big yet.Janis Joplin, ( smarter than people think), Jimi Hendrix, ( totally musicalspace cadet ), Roland Kirk, ( God), Miles Davis, ( hated white people), everyBritish band except the Beatles and the Stones, ( I later hung out and playedwith some of them), and above all else my favorites, the Grateful Dead. Theywere the original jam band, and had the greatest effect on my performance.There was nothing like it, (the Allman Brothers were close), and there never will be again.It's their spirit I try to capture in my shows.

How did you get to tour with big groups like Nazareth and the Grateful Dead?

It's all about who you know. After the Fillmore closed, and I had signed a badrecord deal, I needed a job. Since I knew so many people in rock, I went on theroad doing lights. It was fun to be part of a team.

There's a rumor that you're in the movie Hair. Why?

Why? I made a bunch of money doing that movie. It was a big party, and I wasbeing paid to be in Central Park. Maybe Milos Forman, (director) will read thisand call me for another movie.

What about Woodstock?

Yes! I was at Woodstock! I admit it! I worked at woodstock! OriginallyWoodstock was to be a little festival. The Fillmore East and other assortedhippie theatre organizations put it together. Well, there we were doingwhatever it was we were doing when… zap! Hundreds of thousands of people showedup! I worked harder and did more muddy things that week than I ever had before,or ever will again. My biggest memory of Woodstock, (aside from the music), ismud.

How is jamband music different from rock?

Jambands are the opposite end of the music industry. It's music of the moment,fast on it's feet and unafraid. Usually it's drug induced and floats away intothe cosmos. I hate to sound like a relic from a past era, but I sometimeswonder if anyone remembers fun. I'll always be a jammer, and I'll always takethe audience with me when I go into that space.

Is this when you developed your songwriter skills and lyrics?

Oh. That's an easy one. As soon as I could hold a pencil I started writing poetry.When I combined it with piano and guitar, it became song. It's what I still dofor fun. It's been my private world for so long that I'm having a hardtime commercializing it. Other people are starting to do my songs, but it'slike letting go of children.

In your bio you mention names like John Lennon, David Peel, Leslie Westthese are persons unreachable for most people, how did you get to play withthem?

We all hung out in the same places. I've played with a lot of"famous" people, but I didn't really notice. I did it for fun and themoney. It would have been a good joke if I'd taken pictures with all thefamous people I've know. I can just picture myself throwing my arms aroundMiles Davis, ( a rather foul tempered and sullen man, prone to fits ofviolence.), and saying to him, " Hey Miles, (I called him MR.DAVIS.), posefor this picture so I can show it to everyone. I laugh now to think how hewould have reacted.

Who influenced you most ? Why?

Interesting question. Who influence YOU most in your life? Probably ourparents. My father was an amateur drummer. He used to go to the jam sessions on52nd street and sit in with people like Charlie Parker and Telonius Monk. Fromwhat my mother tells me, he was an embarrassingly bad, and was only allowed tosit in because he was a nice guy. Sounds like a lot of the people who want tosit in with me. I don't let them. Guess I'm not as nice as Charley Parker.

With so many musical geniuses around you what kind of sound were you mostdrawn to yourself? Why?

For me the key word here is geniuses. I've been privileged to hang with somany, and hope a little rubbed off. I look for brilliant and great things. It'swhat makes life worth living. I'm happy that for some people I can do whatother artists do for me.

Were you always a singer, songwriter, guitarist? Did youwrite all the songs you played?

I've always been a writer, and I rarely sing the songs I write, sometime I playmy original songs in a show and don't tell them the songs are mine. Then thecrowd starts singing my choruses. That's an ego thrill. Even more fun iswriting a song on the spot about something going on in the room andthemthinking the song was written long ago. This improv spirit is how I have themost fun. At my best I can take them on a journey somewhere they've never beenfor an hour or two. I just share my private space with them.

You recorded one of your own songs, broke the charts. The song a mixture ofreagae and police with a solo that takes the audience into a new experience.Did you know what you wanted when you wrote the song?

You've really done your research!

I listened to it and read the reviews.

I don't know about breaking charts, but I did get on the indie charts for awhile, and enjoyed being mildly successful and making almost enough money tosupport my habits. I didn't expect anything to happen with the song, I'dbeen working on other people's projects in the studio for years, but this wasactually my first attempt at doing something on my own. There's actually a videothat was out there for a while that went with it.

Great reviews.

I like this interview. You keep using words like grerat and success. Does thatmean wealth is soon to follow?

Everyone wanted to hear more, but nothing. Why?

Actually, I did do a follow up single called "Barbarian Times." It’sthe story of a white nerd who shot some black muggers on the subway. The recordcompany said it wasn't politically correct so they didn't want to releaseit. A year later, this mild mannered nerd Bernie Goetz shot some muggerson the New York subway and became a hero. The record company reissued thesingle, and talked me into doing a video for it. I did, but the whole episode shows the truecharacter of the music industryArtistic interference doesn't come close to telling it like it is.The suits needed to control the artist to justify theirhigher than high salaries. It was modernday urban slavery. I'd rather not. An artist need's musical freedom to develop and grow. If hemakes money in the process all the better, but doing it the other way around isheartbreaking and torturous.

You left America for Europe to find musical freedom. You became a streetmusician travelling the continent with a vw van. How was Europe different fromNew York?

I was lucky. I got to experience Europe before it became Americanized. Just afew hours driving and I was in another country, another language, adifferent culture, different music. I learned the value of entertainment.People just wanted to have fun and be distracted from the bullshit. I'm stilldrawing on the street experience for the club shows I do today. One year I did a thousand showson the street! If a show wasn't good, I had the chance to correct it an hour later. The best part was if youweren't any good, you didn't make any money. That kept me on my toes and developing.

How did you become so successful on the streets?

I had no choice. The streets are a great place to learn. If you're good,yousurvive. If you're not you'll soon get better....or get a day job. I was crappyat it when I started. I thought I was all that, and people would look at me asif I were crazy and keep on walkin'. Then I learned to entertain them. It tooka few years to get the hang of it.

Articles written about you all speak of your improvisation and use of thesituation and the joy of the audience. How did you develop your improvisationskill?

I've had this weird rhyming ability since I was a kid. I used to make rhymes toremember my schoolwork. The nuns used to smack me for mumbling and singing. Istill remember one from the fourth grade

What was it? Can you still sing it?

Sure. That's easier than answering all these questions.

Spain, Italy, France and Greece, for countries we do know,They are around the same sea and the same crops do they grow.They only have two seasons their climate is quite hot,We get our olives grapes and dates all from this same spot,Once long ago there lived along this very same sea,Phoenicians, Romans and the Greeks, important these three,Phoenicians made an alphabet and traveled far in boats,The Romans conquered many lands, just look into your notes.

The nuns smacked you for that?The nuns smacked you for everything back then, but in their defense they nevergot to hear the songs, just the mumbling. They probably thought I was possessedand tried to exorcise my demons.

Would you musically have reached the level that you are on if you had stayedin New York?

I'm sure I would have become a serial killer if I'd stayed in New York. NewYork is for the most part filled with yuppie transplants now. Rents are toohigh, and people are afraid and have bad attitudes. I wrote a song about itcalled "Fear City". There's a version of it on Myspace. You shouldhave a listen. It'll make you laugh.

I listened to it. Your lyrics are very real. Where else do you find theinspiration?

I'm inspired every day. I have to stop myself from writing songs and storiesand scripts, because there's just too much inspiration for me to handle. Justbetween the two of us, I think I'm going nuts. Maybe the serial killer thingwasn't a joke after all. Did you tell anyone you were coming here?

No, but I've studies kung fu for ten year.

Ok. So much for that idea. Any more questions?

When do we finally get to hear the rest of the album and music we fanshave been waiting for for so long?Well, it would go a lot faster if I didn't have to do promotional thingslikeinterviews. Just joking. Actually, I've enjoyed this. Now with thehome studiorevolution, I'm having fun recording again. With the possibilities of theinternet, I'll soon be putting out the cd's and dvd'sI want without theannoyance of the grim suits. How long did you study kung fu?

A long time.It sounds like you've led a full life and had great experiences.Any regrets?

Only that you've studied kung fu. I'm getting into this serial killer idea.Sure you won't stay for dinner.